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Beacon of Hope: The Lifeboat Prayer goes symphonic

Beacon of Hope: The Lifeboat Prayer goes symphonic

A lifeboat naming ceremony. Photo: Nicholas Leach.

Friday 3 July 2026

If you’ve ever been to a lifeboat naming ceremony, or an RNLI carol service, you’ll probably have said the Lifeboat Prayer. Simple, moving words that bring us all together in a wish and an entreaty for the safety of those who go to sea.

Merciful Father, all things in Heaven and Earth are held within Your loving care. Look with favour upon the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Protect and bless the crews of all our lifeboats, our lifeguards and all who risk their own safety to bring help to others.

Guide all who work for the institution as volunteers, supporters or staff, that they may be faithful to the vision of its founders, so that it may always be seen as a beacon of hope and light to those who find themselves in peril on the seas. Through the same Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be honour and glory, now and forever. Amen.

Now, composer Paul Carr has set the prayer to music, arranged for orchestra, soprano and baritone soloists, and four-part choir. Titled Beacon of Hope, the piece will be premiered at the Lighthouse in Poole on 11 July. So, where do you begin with setting words like that to music?

‘Imagine what it’s like being lost at sea in the dark,’ Paul says. ‘The piece starts right in the depths of the ocean, very dark, very deep, very quiet, with tuba and contrabassoon and double basses. And then it builds; it builds very slowly at first, like the sea. Then it gathers momentum and it builds and it builds and it builds into a near-storm. And then you hear the opening words of this beautiful prayer – “Merciful Father, all things in Heaven and Earth are held within Your loving care.”

‘I tend not to set out with a specific structure in mind. I hate the word organic, but that is how it happens. The great joy of composing is to be given a brief and to be given words and then to bring it to life. Like: “That will sound fantastic on the horns, and then we need the trumpets here, or the harp … ” It’s like having the ingredients and thinking: “How should I put these together? What am I going to cook tonight? And how can I mix these ingredients to make people think: Wow, I love that?”

‘There’s a wonderful key change about a third of the way through, where we suddenly go from G major to A flat – every time I play it I get goosebumps! You need these moments where your emotional insides are given a release, and that’s what music does better than anything. I’ve used these various key changes to create an atmosphere of openness and emotional strength.

‘I hope people experience the same emotions that I did in creating it. It’s a big, big piece, but it’s got some very delicate and beautiful moments in it.

The Bournemouth Symphony Chorus take applause after a recent concert.

‘The section about volunteers, supporters and staff, some might say it’s not very poetic. But that’s the whole point. I like that’s it’s more straightforward, because these are real people – real people who come together to save lives. And it’s not just the people on the boats. It’s also the people who donate, and the people who raise funds – it’s all time, effort and money given to help others.

Paul and Gavin Carr. — Paul (right), with his brother Gavin, who will conduct the concert.

‘Then there’s this beautiful section that’s the quietest in the whole thing. The key changes into a very open, plain, simple C major, and the choir and the soloists sing the words “a beacon of hope, of hope and light, for now and forever, Amen”.

‘But then I’ve gone back and recapitulated “forever and ever”, because I wanted that to be the final statement. It’s not just a prayer. It’s an expression of the glory of what these people do, of the hope they give. It’s the men and the women who are on those boats that are, at that moment in time, the beacon of hope.

‘If you don’t go regularly to classical concerts, I think you’ll still enjoy it. It’s very singable, it’s very tuneful. It’s a big, bold, powerful piece and it’s very descriptive of the power of the sea.’

Beacon of Hope premieres at the Lighthouse in Poole on Saturday 11 July, performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, the Bath Minerva Choir, the Salomon Orchestra, soprano Sophie Bevan and baritone Gareth Brynmor John. Also on the programme are Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes. All proceeds from the concert come to the RNLI. Be a beacon of hope – get your tickets here.